Alpha Flight Vol 2 -1
* * Supporting Characters: * * unnamed guests at wedding * * * * * * * Other Characters: * * * * (Foreman at a construction site, called a "Major", possibly indicating his military rank) * Mr. Hulme * Margie (Heather's co-worker) * Maggie (Heather's friend) * Unnamed general * Races and Species: * * Locations: * ** *** **** *** **** Items: * * Cosmic Ray Collector. * ** Wolverine's claws. Vehicles: * Heather McNeil's car. | Notes = *As part of the Flashback Month, the events of the issue take place before the formation of Alpha Flight and before the main stories of Alpha Flight Vol 1 (1983-1994). It serves as part of the various origin stories of the team and covers in detail the relationship of James Hudson and Heather McNeil, from their introduction to their wedding day. *Part of the events depicted in this issue are based in previous origin stories for Alpha Flight and for Wolverine. Other events, such as the scenes taking place in Orloo, are completely new material. However, all of the artwork of the issue is original material, rather than reprints. *In a few scenes of the issue Heather McNeil has a co-worker and friend called "Margie", who James Hudson calls "Margaret". In a later scene, Heather interacts with a female friend called "Maggie". "Maggie" looks like "Margie", though it is unclear from the narrative if they are the same character under two names. Neither character received a last name. *The mysterious foreman constructing the Cosmic Ray Collector for Department H seems to be part of a military organization. He is variously called "Major", "Mr. Clarke", and "Major Clarke". It is plausible that he is General Clarke in an earlier phase of his career, as assumed by various online sources. However the issue of his identity was never really clarified and the General never really received an origin story, despite appearing as an Alpha Flight supporting character from 1990 to his apparent death in 1998. Several of his appearances hinted that the General had sinister agendas of his own and many secrets, but most of the details were never really explored. *While the wedding of James Hudson and Heather McNeil had previously been mentioned in several stories, the event was never depicted on panel before this issue. The issue has the wedding take place in Orloo. The priest at the wedding is Stan Lee, the best man at the wedding is Wolverine, but the rest of the crowd attending the event is not identified. For example, there is a white-haired woman standing by Heather's side during the wedding. It is never revealed if she is a member of Heather's family and she does not seem to be Claire McNeil, who is depicted as a redhead elsewhere in the issue. *This issue depicts Claire McNeil in a small but decisive part as a disapproving mother for Heather, who objects to any civil registrar ceremony for her daughter on religious grounds. Claire has been a minor supporting character for Alpha Flight since 1983. She is the matriarch to a large family and has been previously depicted as disapproving of James Hudson as a potential son-in-law. *This issue depicts Ramsey McNeil as effectively a silent character who lets his wife Claire do the talking for him. Ramsey has been a minor supporting character for Alpha Flight since 1983. He has been previously depicted as disapproving of James Hudson as a potential son-in-law. He has once been depicted reserving his contempt for Wolverine, who he considers an animal. *The issue mentions that Heather McNeil has 6 brothers. While various issues mention that Heather has many brothers, their exact number varies between sources. None of these brothers has ever made an on-panel appearance or received a name. On the other hand, the issue never mentions that Heather has sisters as well. A younger sister of Heather called Rebecca McNeil has appeared as a minor supporting character since 1988. In addition, Elizabeth Twoyoungmen has been depicted as a foster sister of Heather, raised by the McNeil family following the death of her mother. *In this issue, James Hudson cites Reed Richards as an authority on the subject of cosmic rays. This is in part a reference to the origin story of the Fantastic Four. Reed and the other three founding members of the Four are mutates who received their powers following their exposure to cosmic rays. *During the battle with Chinook, James Hudson wears an early version of the Guardian's Battle-suit and calls himself Weapon Alpha. This leaves the placement of the battle in an uncertain place in Alpha Flight chronology. Alpha Flight Special Vol 2 1 (June, 1992), another origin story for the team, established that James was not initially considered for field work. An early version of the armor was developed for Groundhog, and only after this agent quit did James start developing the armor for personal use. *This issue marks the first appearance of the Hull House orphanage, where Eugene Judd works. In this early stage of the history of the orphanage, it is unclear if the orphanage had ties to Department H. Later stories established the orphanage as a facility for the Department, where super-powered children are raised until ready to serve. At least four known members of Alpha Flight were originally Hull House children: Flex, Ghost Girl, Murmur, and Radius. All four are considered mutants, though they never received detailed origins. There were also hints that they had inherited their powers from mutant parents or grandparents, though their second-generation status was never fully established. *The children which are seen playing basketball are Adrian Corbo and Jared Corbo, making their first appearance. They will grow up to become Alpha Flight members, codenamed Flex and Radius. *This is the first appearance of Chinook, but very little is established about his origins. He is apparently a veteran superhero who has not been seen in years, if not decades, but still appears youthful. James Hudson assumes him to be human, but the nature of his powers before being bathed in cosmic rays is unclear. He could be a mutant, a mutate, or a member of a human-looking super-powered race such as the Eternals. *The Marvel Chronology Project, which tracks character appearances, has the following information on the characters of the issue: **For Chinook, this is the earliest known appearance. His next chronological appearance is in Alpha Flight Vol 2 2 (September, 1997). **For General Jeremy Clarke, this is his earliest known appearance. His next chronological appearance is a flashback in Alpha Flight Vol 1 92 (January, 1991). **For Gary Cody, this is his earliest known appearance. His next chronological appearance is the second (origin) story in Alpha Flight Vol 1 10 (May, 1984). **For James Hudson, the events of pages 12 to 21 and the "present" portions of the issue take place between parts of the second (origin) story in Alpha Flight Vol 1 3 (October, 1983) and Free Comic Book Day Vol 2009 Wolverine (May, 2009). The latter followed by other parts of Alpha Flight Vol 1 3 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine Vol 1 1 (June, 2009). **For Heather McNeil, the events of pages 12 to 21 and the "present" portions of the issue take place between parts of the second (origin) story in Alpha Flight Vol 1 3 (October, 1983) and X-Men Origins: Wolverine Vol 1 1 (June, 2009). **For Puck, the events of the issue take place between a flashback in Alpha Flight Vol 2 14 (September, 1998) and the main story of Alpha Flight Vol 1 1 (August, 1983). **For Wolverine, the events of pages 12 to 21 and the "present" portions of the issue take place between a flashback scene in X-Men Vol 1 140 (December, 1980) and Free Comic Book Day Vol 2009 Wolverine (May, 2009). The latter followed by the first 16 pages of X-Men Origins: Wolverine Vol 1 1 (June, 2009). | Trivia = *Unusually for a Flashback Month issue, this is not a stand-alone story published as part of an established series. Alpha Flight Vol 1 had went defunct in 1994 and this issue was the first publication under the Alpha Flight name to appear following its cancellation. In retrospect, it is seen as the first issue of Alpha Flight Vol 2 (1997-1999) and in effect served as a pilot episode for the new direction of the team. It introduced some characters and concepts that were revisited later in the series, particularly the unreliability of Department H and the existence of mysterious agendas within the organization. *This is the first issue of Alpha Flight written by Steven T. Seagle. Seagle was the main writer of Alpha Flight Vol 2 (1997-1999), writing all 20 regular issues of the series. *The main penciller of this issue is Anthony Winn, who has relatively few credits in Marvel Comics issues. He did not become a regular artist in Alpha Flight Vol 2, though he did also pencil Alpha Flight Vol 2 10 (May, 1998). *The full name of James Hudson is James MacDonald Hudson. The issue makes clear that he prefers being called "James", though Heather and his friends call him "Mac". The summary above uses James to distinguish him from other characters. It should be noted that he is not the only "James" in this issue. Wolverine's real name was eventually established to be James Howlett. | Recommended = | Links = *Plot summary in Uncanny X-men.net }}